99designs Launches Localized German-Language Site at 99designs.de

September 06, 2012 03:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SAN FRANCISCO & MELBOURNE, Australia & BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--99designs,
the largest online graphic design marketplace in the world, today
launched a localized German-language version of its site at 99designs.de.
The site is 99designs’ first non-English language offering and comes one
month after its acquisition
of German creative design marketplace 12designer and the establishment
of its European headquarters in Berlin.

“The launch of 99designs.de marks a major milestone in our company’s
continued focus on international expansion through localization,” said
99designs President and CEO Patrick
Llewellyn. “99designs’ Berlin-based team worked closely with our
product and development teams to create a site that will enable
German-speaking customers and designers to interact more effectively and
efficiently. This is a key step in our efforts to provide a truly
localized service to one of our most important markets.”

Germany is 99design’s largest non-English language market, its
fifth-largest market overall and one of its fastest growing. The
company’s European headquarters in Berlin will provide support in German
to both customers and designers via phone, chat and email.

"By combining the strengths of the world's most advanced graphic design
marketplace with the benefits of localized German-language content and
support, we expect the new 99designs.de to provide a superior experience
for German customers and more local work for German designers," said Eva
Missling, General Manager of Europe for 99designs and founder of
12designer. “This is the first of several of local-language sites we’re
looking forward to introducing across Europe in the months ahead.”

99designs has hosted more than 160,000 graphic design contests for small
businesses, startups and other organizations around the world since its
founding in 2008. In the same period, the company has paid out more than
$40 million to its community of 180,000 graphic designers around the
world.

In conjunction with the introduction of its German
site, 99designs announced it has signed its first business
partnership in Germany with the establishment of a strategic agreement
with Jimdo,
the Hamburg-based global free-website builder that has helped users
create more than six million websites in 11 languages. The companies
have agreed to cross-promote their complementary services and develop
further integrations in the coming year to enable small businesses to
launch custom-designed websites quickly and cost-effectively.

About 99designs

99designs
is the world's largest online graphic design marketplace, connecting
businesses looking for design work with more than 180,000 graphic
designers from 192 countries around the world. Businesses can source
graphic design work quickly and affordably by launching
design contests to the community, working
1-on-1 with individual designers, or purchasing design templates
from 99designs' readymade
logo store. The company was co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Mark
Harbottle and Matt Mickiewicz (SitePoint, Flippa), and is backed by
Accel Partners and angel investors Michael Dearing (eBay, Harrison
Metal), Dave Goldberg (Survey Monkey), Stewart Butterfield (Flickr, Tiny
Speck) and Anthony Casalena (Squarespace). To learn more about
99designs, including where the company is hiring, visit www.99designs.com.